General Assembly prayer

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General Assembly prayer

The House switched to a system where individual Delegates offer prayer in 2000, after conflict over Christian clergy offering invocation “in Jesus’ name.” The House clerk’s office is supposed to give Delegates an old brochure put out by the National Conference of Christian and Jews advising how to give “Public prayer in a pluralistic society.” It recommends prayer that “uses universal, inclusive terms for deity, rather than particular proper names for divine manifestations.”

The Senate invites a religious leader to give a prayer at the beginning of each session. The Secretary of the Senate is tasked with reviewing the prayer in advance to ensure that the content is ecumenical.